


la luna y sus lunas

by blueaces



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Mermaids, Platonic Relationships, lots of moon talk, though typical flirty haechan is present, you'll briefly see who they are really pining for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23235637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueaces/pseuds/blueaces
Summary: What does Taeil do when he hears a mermaid crying on a full moon? Bolt, of course.But he doesn’t exactly stay away.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Moon Taeil
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	la luna y sus lunas

**Author's Note:**

> dumping this after starting it last May and just wanting it gone :^)

It’s a full moon tonight.

Donghyuck can see the radiance of her through his window, the light distorted by the ever-rippling water. She draws him in, just like every other month, guiding him through his tribe’s home of sandstone rising amongst the coral and kelp forest bordering the dwelling without alerting anyone of his presence. It’s mazelike, trying to weave his way out of the thick brown greens, passing the occasional sea otter holding a sea urchin with one paw against their stomach and the other waving in greeting towards him. The moon is a beacon, manifesting a path for him to follow until the kelp surrounds him no more, and it’s just him and the dark abysses of the sea.

Their home is located near the shore, a choice not given to them, rather decided by the sea herself. At first younger Donghyuck thought it would be dangerous inhabiting so close to human territory, but the tribe, including himself, trusted the sea, knowing she would never bring harm upon them intentionally. Indeed, endowed with her protection, in the hundreds of years they have been stationed there, they have yet to come across any threats that could endanger their existence.

The cliff comes into view quickly, jagged edges still not smoothed out by the years of crashing waves. Swimming through the current was never a challenge, although the bubbling water obscured the small opening of a sea cave enough for Donghyuck to only rely on the moon, her rays cutting through the dark and illuminating the cavity in the cliff’s side. The surrounding rock almost glows in response, becoming brighter as he draws near. Entering the underwater cavern, the sensation of fingers running down his spine greets him, old magic determining if he was worthy of crossing its threshold. It disappears once it’s satisfied, and Donghyuck continues down the narrow passage for some time until it widens into a circular area. He breaches the surface, wandering towards the stairs leading to flat grounds.

Toes touch the gritty rock, smiling as he relishes in the texture poking at his feet. Initially, the sight of legs would startle him, so use to a colorful tail full of scales refracting any light. But wiggling his toes for the first time was such a delight, he laughed out loud, the full sound reverberating along the walls.

It doesn’t take long to become accustomed to walking. The moon has been calling him to this place for over a year, each shift from swimming with his tail to ambling about on two legs easier and easier to do. In his four hundred years of living, Donghyuck had never experienced anything close to this and has always wondered why the moon started until recently. He hasn’t been able to come up with an answer yet and can only take the pathway deeper into the cave where the light grows from an unknown source, giving him enough to not step on stray broken rocks with his slightly shaky legs.

Coming upon the end of the cave where the paintings were still left him in awe like the very first time. The walls are covered in faded drawings from past mermaids, small scribbles written in their language underneath each cluing him in on what they portrayed. They tell of wars between other tribes and with the humans once they found out the mermaid’s secrets, the pain they went through clearly projecting into his mind.

Here, he sits on the cool rocks and waits for it to arise while he stares at the stories he’s memorized at this point. It’s a song that took hold of him the first time he discovered the paintings, one he did not know of and didn’t know if his parents knew of either. Yet it tingled throughout his body, warmth traveling from his core to his throat and out his mouth like he had done it a hundred times before.

Only a few minutes pass by, enough to slow down his breathing to a peaceful beat, and the familiar feeling surfaces, shaking vocal cords and tasteful words. In simple words, it’s beautiful, the connection Donghyuck feels coursing from the walls full of intense power to him to be translated into music so potent, it makes his scales beam like the moon. When he opens his mouth, tongue soaked in notes waiting to be released after being held in—

He starts to sing.

-

Taeil loves the moon. He figured it would always be a given as his last name is so. The connection present since the day he breached into this world, his mother taking him to sit on a swing outside every night to gaze at the different phases. It came as no surprise when his first word was _moon_ , seeing as his mother told him stories revolving around the moon constantly.

“One day, the moon is going to grant you something so special. Don’t waste what you are given.”

Whatever and whenever that was, Taeil didn’t dwell on it too much as he got older, but it stayed in the far back of his mind, a child’s dream he wasn’t sure would ever come to fruition. Going into school to study space, specifically the moon, was seamlessly natural. Nothing else enthralled him like the craters littering the surface and what the rocky terrain had once held billions of years ago. He had made a habit out of going to different spots around the city each full moon, looking for the best spot to get the complete effect of the moon, gorgeously shining down on him. He's been on rooftops (legally and not so legally), treetops, the nearby mountain, the observatory on said mountain, and just plain laying in his backyard looking up at the sky.

Up until now, he’s forgone the sea due to him being partial against water. But today, with the salt hanging thick in the air and the cool wind caressing his hair as he wanders along the coast, he figures it would be worth the time. Taeil walks without a care for anything but the moon above him and the sand slightly sinking under the weight of his body.

The mountains run until it meets the water, obscuring what lies beyond the curve of the coast. As he approaches the other end, the sand gradually becomes rocks, at first small but increasing in size the more he traveled. Ahead, the water arches inward, leading the way to a cliff shorter than the rest of the mountain surrounding it. He's never walked this far before, but he figured this was the cove his coworker Jungwoo had brought up before while talking about one of his late night swims around the city. It’s just as Jungwoo had said: the terrain is too rocky for anyone barefoot to climb but if one were to follow the upward direction which the rocks were taking, perhaps they would find something worthwhile.

Which is exactly what Taeil does, wondering if he would be able to see the moon past the trees on the mountains. Wet and mossy from the continuous water lapping at its base, the rocks made for a careful trip, Taeil gingerly climbing over them searching for a way to the top. He’s almost at the top when he feels his foot twist on the moss, and then his entire body is falling in a space between the rocks.

It’s a moment of freefalling, his stomach in his throat and his arms outstretched above him. Icy water accosts his back, submerging him entirely for a second before the cold shocks him immediately into a sitting position. There’s a flash feeling of hands running down his back and he shudders, water dripping from his hair into his eyes. It’s too dark to see anything, but he wipes at his eyes anyways, thinking he’d like to be aware if something else was in this opening with him. 

That's when he hears it. A harsh wailing so spine chilling, goosebumps appear all over his body. Taeil barely had enough time to gather his bearings, but he doesn’t want to stick around and figure out what in absolute _hell_ that was. Looking upward shows him the hole he fell through, and Taeil’s eyes follow the wall, confirming it is indeed climbable. Except the first grapple sends a grand amount of large, loose rocks tumbling from his fingers and splashes loudly, echoing deeper into the cave.

The singing cuts off abruptly, and Taeil no longer cares about being silent as he scrambles up the wall, more rocks plunging down in his wake. The pain of sharp edges cutting into his skin goes unnoticed through the adrenaline, and by the time he's out of the cave, blood mixes with the water to drip from his hands and shins. Shivering like mad, he’s able to make his way down the rocks without another blunder and books it back home.

Meanwhile, Donghyuck watches from the coast with only his eyes peeking above the water, giggling at the human stumbling up the sand back to firmer grounds.

-

Donghyuck wouldn’t say he’s curious about the human who was able to find his place, his people’s place, but then he would be lying, and his tribe of mermaids aren’t particularly fond of lying.

By the moon, he’s so fucking _intrigued_ , he doesn’t know what else to do with himself besides sneaking out every night near the cave to wait. Waiting for the small human to return.

The moon waxes and wanes, her full moon luring him into the cave to sing as always, but he’s distracted, the walls not radiating their soft light as strongly as they should. Guilt bubbles within him, yet it’s not enough to stop him from turning to glance at the shore before he leaves back home.

Another cycle of her phases spent surveying the empty sands, each day that passes having his shoulders sag a little more. Donghyuck isn’t sure if he’ll ever figure out why the human was allowed to go into their cave unharmed. There’s no chance of the human having ill intentions or else the cave wouldn’t have shown itself to them, giving Donghyuck a sense of relief. However, the cave has nothing he knows of in which he could communicate with whoever or whatever was guarding it. He wants to come to terms with never knowing, but it tickles the back of his mind when he goes about his royal duties with Yangyang.

“Has anything been on your mind lately?” Donghyuck keeps himself from jolting at the question. Of course, he would notice, Donghyuck’s just surprised it took him this long to speak up. Yangyang pokes him with a lobster he’d been cleaning, the claw scantily pinching the skin on his upper arm. Taking a hand away from his own lobster, he pets the carapace of Yangyang’s, its eyes becoming half-lidded in contentment. 

“Nothing more than usual.” And he throws a toothy grin at Yangyang, along with the dirty sea sponge he’d been using. It hits with the accuracy of a prince who’s been training all his life for the inevitable —whatever that may be —, right at the space between his eyebrows. Yangyang scoffs at the smudge he knows is marking his face but doesn’t prod any further, all too aware of Donghyuck’s responsibilities.

It’s the day before the full moon, not quite ready to pull him back in, but the subtle tightness in his throat hints at him to be prepared for the following night. Yangyang had chosen that day to fall asleep in Donghyuck’s bed and not in his own room, making his escape more difficult than it already was. Unwrapping Yangyang’s arm from his waist proves to be easier than expected; it’s leaving Yangyang alone in his bed that twists uncomfortably in his stomach. Donghyuck hovers by the bed watching the air bubbles rise from the gills in the side of his neck, the covering of woven sea moss pulled up to his chest.

He almost reaches out a hand to shake Yangyang awake but pulls back at the last second. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Yangyang with such a secret, and he knows the cave would let him in no problem. It’s the fact Donghyuck has shared everything with him for as long as he can remember, and it’s Yangyang’s duty to report most of it to his parents. Having one secret to himself feels like a gift, something to treasure for as long as he can. In return for keeping him in the dark, Donghyuck leans over to press a featherlight kiss to Yangyang’s temple, a whisper of _soon_ ghosting over his skin.

Before entering the opening, he breaches the surface, his eyes roaming over the coast for the human. They widen in surprise when he notices a figure approaching the rocks and beginning to climb them. Making a decision on the spot, Donghyuck quickly submerges, rushing through the opening and into the cave to find out where exactly this human was entering from.

-

Taeil had to recover from the scraped hands (and the smallest bit of trauma) before venturing out and ruining them again. He didn’t get the chance to find a vantage point for the moon, and a little screaming in a dark, wet, possibly haunted cave wasn’t going to stop him.

Following the same path he initially took, Taeil eventually comes upon the opening which he fell in. It’s not visible going forward because of the curve of the rock, and only would be on the way back down, hence Taeil’s collapse into it. He gives it a wide berth while being cautious of other hidden crevices, continuing until the rocks become leveled smooth ground. Dense trees crowd the mountain, much more than what he originally thought from his lower perspective at the shore. Taeil doesn’t even have to step in to know he would not be finding an optimum moon gazing spot here.

Disappointed, his shoulders sink a little, and he faces back to the ocean. The water is calm tonight, the waves of the surface disrupting the reflection of the moon’s luminescence. In the distance, he can see the occasional fish jumping out into the air for a brief moment before dipping back in. Watching the water sway, Taeil thinks maybe it wasn’t a waste after all. Taeil lets himself wonder if Jungwoo would find the silence with him as endearing and can’t help the slight smile rising as he imagines the moonlight on Jungwoo’s pale skin.

Not knowing how much time has passed standing at the edge daydreaming, he sighs and makes his way back down. The opening comes into view once again, more enticing than it was at first. Kneeling next to it, Taeil peers into the darkness to see… more darkness.

 _Well,_ he thinks, already moving his legs to dangle into the opening, _curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back,_ and jumps straight down. The fall isn’t as long as he originally thought, and the impact is lowered by his braced knees, water splashing high enough to reach his face. Again, there’s the fleeting feeling of something running across his back, disappearing just as fast.

Taeil is surprised to find he can see into the cave, dimly lit by an unknown source. In front of him is a tunnel leading deeper into the mountain, too long for him to see the end of it from his position. There’s another pool of water to his left, not connected to the shallow one he landed in. Shuffling closer, Taeil squints. Surely, he must be mistaken… was that a wide tail flipping in the water?

The tail breaks through the water again, lazy in its actions. Now, he can see stairs in the larger pool leading from the water into the cave. What he doesn’t expect is a person to be lying on the stairs, already watching him.

Jolting backwards at the unexpected presence, Taeil has to place a hand on his heart to calm himself. The person grins at his shock, the scales framing their face lifting upwards with the movement. A little dazzled, Taeil can only manage to ask, “I-Is the tail yours?”

The grin grows, lighting up the knowing expression on their face. “Come back tomorrow if you wish to see more.” Not knowing what exactly that would entail, Taeil can only nod uncertainly as the mermaid slithers backwards into the water, glittering eyes never leaving his.

And come back Taeil does, under the full moon of the night. She shines brightly upon Taeil on his trip to the cave, as unrelenting as the waves against the rocks he is currently trying to clamber across to find the small opening again. The climb is easier this time around, Taeil gaining a rhythm in noting the indents where he can safely place his feet in without slipping too much on the algae.

Once inside, he steps out of the pool of water, walking the short distance to where he last spoke to the mermaid the night before. Laying on the steps in almost the same position is the mermaid, arms crossed with the water slightly lapping over them.

“The name’s Donghyuck, by the way.” The low, dark timbre of his voice catches him by surprise, not unlike how it did yesterday.

“Taeil. Moon Taeil,” he offers back to Donghyuck.

Donghyuck smiles close-lipped at the name. “Fitting, isn’t it?” Taeil hums in question, but the mermaid doesn’t expand on what he means. Donghyuck moves his arms in a way that signals he wanted to lift himself out of the water, then stops himself before his bellybutton could even be seen. “Close your eyes.”

Taeil shouldn’t but he obliges anyway, head facing the ground and his hands fidgeting in anticipation. When the sloshing of the water comes to a halt and there’s a whisper of _open_ , he does as he’s told once again. Starting from Donghyuck’s feet, his gaze slowly trails upwards, but stops at his thighs when Taeil realizes he’s unclothed, eyes widening as he averts his stare.

“You have feet.”

“That I do. Only in here on a full moon does she bless me with such a thing.” Donghyuck tilts his head to the side once he notices Taeil not fixated on him in awe, but rather at the plain rocky wall with redness creeping up his neck. “Is something the matter?”

In lieu of a response, Taeil shrugs off the oversized plaid shirt hugging his frame and holds it out towards Donghyuck, still not meeting his gaze. Not realizing the real reason behind Taeil’s aversion, Donghyuck giggles at the outstretched hand as he accepts the offered shirt. “The cold doesn’t bother me, but I’ll take it.” When he can finally look at Donghyuck again without feeling like he might burst into flames, Taeil thanks his stars the plaid is long enough to just brush the middle of his thighs, appreciating the smooth sun-tanned skin peeking out from underneath.

The scales curving around his temples are still there despite his new form, and Taeil can’t hold his tongue when he quickly blurts out, “You’re quite pretty.”

Taeil is rewarded with a full laugh, warm and tinkling like the sea glass forming in the sun. “You’re not too bad yourself, for a human.” Eyes drag lazily over his form, Donghyuck’s fingers creating a check-mark on his chin, and Taeil is glad the cave is dark enough to hide the red he’s sure is seeping from his neck into his cheeks.

“Don’t be shy.” _Well, there goes that._ “Come on. I did say I had something to show you, did I not?” A hand is offered to him, taken to lead him further into the cave, Taeil feels the edges of scales along the back of his hand, rounded and sturdy. None of his focus goes into where they are going, only into the incredible softness of Donghyuck’s palm, contrasting textures on one feature. Does the sea keep his skin so soft, so supple, or is it something else entirely that Taeil doesn’t know could exist?

With his one track mind dragging him away as usual, he momentarily forgets what the purpose of the trek is until Donghyuck drops his hand to spread his arms wide, the loss of contact startling him back into the present.

“These are the paintings of my people, hundreds of years old.”

On the walls is unlike anything Taeil has ever seen. Etchings of beings with an upper human half and the lower half of a fish, some with other marine life and some with humans. It starts off depicting the mermaids existing peacefully, underwater in their homes and on shore with the humans. Then it’s a painting of what looks like a gathering between the mermaids and the humans, seemingly getting along until the next portion shows a human shoving a spear into the mermaid closest to them. A majority of this wall is red, the blood of the mermaids smeared across the world. The words underneath the paintings are almost indecipherable, besides the fact they are in a language Taeil doesn’t know, the red dripping down onto them makes for a harder read.

The final painting is peace once more, the mermaids back underwater and the humans staying on land. An agreement of sorts was made at the cost of staying separate. Every drawing looked worn with age, Taeil unable to tell when exactly this great war could have occurred. He turns back to Donghyuck, who’s been watching him observe the paintings, and takes a glance at his legs. None of this explains why Donghyuck can transform his lower half while in this cave, and he voices his question with a pointed look at Donghyuck’s legs, “Why does this happen though?”

Donghyuck replies coyly, a shoulder tilted towards his head. “Don’t you know it’s the moon that rouses the sea?”

It's a clever answer. The moon brings Donghyuck to a cave for his ancestors, and the moon brought Taeil to Donghyuck. Maybe it would be best if they didn’t question the directions of the moon.

“But honestly, I’m not sure. I’ve thought about it plenty and still nothing. Got any ideas?”

Taeil shakes his head, apologetic, and Donghyuck sighs. “Well, that’s quite alright.” Donghyuck takes one last look at the paintings before motioning his head towards the tunnel and leading Taeil back to their respective pools. “Will you come again?”

Figuring this would have been a once in a lifetime event, Taeil’s heart skips with his eagerness to see more, though he tries to keep a calm face. “Only if you allow me”

“I think the cave has done that enough times.” Donghyuck presses a kiss to Taeil’s knuckles in farewell, and he has to hold back the shiver running up his arm. “Next time, tell me of your people.”

Raising an eyebrow, Taeil says, “We aren’t as interesting as yours.”

This time when Donghyuck smiles, it’s all teeth, bright pearls in his mouth. “Oh, but I beg to differ.”

Back on the sand looking out at Donghyuck in the water waving him away with that toothy smile, the moon catching on the whiteness, he thinks his mom might’ve been right about a gift from the moon. For what it’s worth, Taeil was going to hold on as long as the moon allowed him to.

**Author's Note:**

> just a side note, donghyuck didn't sing in front of taeil because he was scoping him out and that's why he asks him to come back after determining he was a good noodle. and now they can be besties. the end.
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/lunitataeil)  
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/blueaces)


End file.
